The big news of Monday, the one day in the middle of the season where anyone can catch their breath, was that possibly the NBA’s best owner of all time passed away. It’s not often we eulogize an owner but Jerry Buss had a record that would make anyone’s jaw drop taken in total. He went to the finals 16 times in 34 seasons of ownership and won 10 times. We’d say it was unreal but no, it was very much real and because the Lakers are the Lakers, everyone knew about it. He’s one of the reasons the Lakers are hated so much around the league, because he won and he had an amazing freaking time doing it, too. It could come off as annoying, sure. Once the emotion ran out of our bloodstream, though, we came to realize it was a guy with a ton of resources living it up — just like you or we would. (From a business standpoint, he was the reason L.A. had such a seemingly unfair upper hand in terms of paying for teams no matter the cost because of his acumen in knowing TV rights would be huge, thus his creation of Prime Ticket.) One of the best pieces we read about his life came from J.A. Adande, who recounted the times he went to clubs to seek out Buss and talk to him off the record. The owner’s message was simple: I love winning. He said so as much in his Hall of Fame enshrinement speech we dug up from YouTube. … How does this affect the current team? Well, Jerry Buss wasn’t shy about paying over the tax line. His son, Jim, who runs the players side of the team (daughter Jeanie runs the business while her fiancee, Phil Jackson, just does whatever an 11-time champ coach does while in Montana) has said he’s not all that thrilled about dropping tons of cash on salaries as his old man was. … Brooklyn might as well become Atlanta North at this point. Every single report tied to Josh Smith‘s trade value comes with Brooklyn’s huge interest attached. After taking Joe Johnson and his deal off GM Danny Ferry‘s hands this summer, could Brooklyn get Smith, too? Unlike Joe mostly this season, Smith might actually help that Nets front line. That is, if they had any pieces to trade for Smith outside of Brook Lopez. … But wait, there’s more: Boston wants it some J-Smoove action, too. The trouble is, multiple outlets have reported, Kevin Garnett wants nothing to do with Atlanta and is expected to invoke his no-trade clause. Would Boston seriously send Paul Pierce , probably its only trade chip left that would match Smith’s value, to ATL? Danny Ainge would be cold-blooded to do so. … Hit the jump to read about the best compliment Dirk Nowitzki ever received …
Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t an All-Star, and that’s a bummer for a player as good as him. And yet, this was one of the greatest weekends of the Mav’s life. He found out Michael Jordan listed him as one of the four players of this generation who could play in MJ’s, a compliment that put Dirk absolutely over the moon to the point he just wasn’t making sense. Twice he said things like “For him to even know my name is crazy, to be honest” and “For him to even say my name is weird.” Yo Dirk, it’s not a bad thing every once in a while to acknowledge you’re one of the greatest players of all-time. … Jeremy Lin‘s just gonna be honest with everyone when he said a big “Thank you!” for not voting him in as an All-Star starter. Now this is the right kind of humble. He knows he’s not in Chris Paul‘s league and it would have been a shame had CP3 been knocked to a backup role. We know, we know, it’s just an All-Star game, but Lin knows it’s about perception and he wants to earn it on the court instead of being the NBA’s zeitgeist. Classy move by Lin to be honest about his hesitation to being named a starter. … Here is your weekly Derrick Rose update: The MVP practiced in a 5-on-5 setting with Chicago teammates but wasn’t dunking, Joakim Noah said in Chicago reports. Dunking has been the hallowed omen every Bulls fan is desperately wanting to hear about from Rose’s workouts because he said it himself that it’s a sign he’s ready to come back. From the sounds of it, he did everything the rest of the team did in the drills. Maybe dunking is psychosomatic, or maybe it’s a legitimate physical hurdle he has to clear before he declares himself ready. Either way, do you really want to be a teammate, Bulls executive, or Rose himself the first time he tries to throw down for good, just hoping he doesn’t hurt himself again? Whenever that day comes, the footing where he takes off from will be the most secure pieces of hardwood to jump from (perfectly dried, not an atom of anything he could slip on) in basketball history. … We’re out like Josh Smith soon.
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